Student's mom screams at
media: 'This is all racist'
By Colin Perkel
TORONTO (CP) — More than a dozen teenagers charged
in an alleged sex scandal that rocked a Toronto high
school two weeks ago were briefly back in court Friday,
many complaining about their bail conditions and
accusing police of racism.
After a brief court appearance at which the group was
ordered to reappear in January, some of the accused
continued to insist they still don’t know why they were
arrested.
“I don’t really understand what happened to me,”
said one of the charged students, a 15-year-old in
Grade 11.
“I just know that I was in school one day and then I
got arrested. It was embarrassing: Kids watching me,
getting handcuffed (and) getting escorted by police
out of the school.”
The arrests of 14 boys and two girls during school
hours came after a 16-year-old girl made the
explosive allegation that she had been sexually
abused and harassed by other students at the
school during a period that spanned 18 months.
The 15-year-old boy, who cannot be identified
under provisions of the Youth Criminal Justice
Act, said his bail conditions prohibit him from
returning to James Cardinal McGuigan High School,
where he was arrested two weeks ago.
“I just been in my house, sleeping, watching TV,
reading,” the boy said. He barely knew the
complainant, he added.
Several of the charged students have been
reassigned to other schools, but in some cases,
are required to travel up to 90 minutes to get to
class.
Others are stuck at home under house arrest.
Lawyer David McComb called the bail conditions
“outrageous.”
George Aristos, who represents three of the accused,
said the “punitive” restrictions would likely need to
be revisited.
“I’m not satisfied that they’re not in school,” Aristos
said. “It’s definitely a very significant hardship.”
During Friday’s appearance, Crown attorney
Michael Waby told Ontario Court Justice Derek
Hogg that police were working “feverishly” to disclose
evidence to the accused, but said it would take several weeks.
(((exactly what does this mean????is there evidence or not?)))
((( this smells like a big lawsuit if this is a lie )))
Hogg granted several of the accused legal-aid certificates
and put the case over until Jan. 10.One accused, who was
initially granted bail, was re-arrested after allegedly breaking
bail conditions and remains in custody pending a hearing
on Monday. Since the arrests of the 16 students, all of whom are
black while the complainant is white, many of the parents
have levelled charges of racism at both police and the
school authorities — charges that continued to fly
Friday.“This is all racist,” the mother of one student screamed
at members of the media. “Why don’t you just leave?
Get out of my face.”One of the accused, a 17-year-old in
Grade 12, said he
believes school authorities pointed out suspects to
police from yearbook pictures.“I was surprised they
picked me out,” he said, noting that he believes his
hopes for a basketball scholarship
to the United States have been dashed.
“Now they ruined it,” he said. ((( or has he done it to himself?))
((((but-if this boy is telling the truth what then?))))
((( I am concerned because too much info is missing....)))
The mother of one student said she also worried about
the fallout even though her daughter is not involved
in the case.“The way it was done was pure degrading and
humiliating for our community,” the mother said.
“It’s going to be a plague for them.”
I am not one to defend abusers but for some reason
something is bothering me here? Is part of this story missing?
I couldn't write anything before as no facts...now later still nothing?
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